Typhoon Soudelor, dubbed as the "Strongest Typhoon of the Year", makes landfall in Taiwan around 5pm Taiwan time last Saturday.
The typhoon wreaked havoc in the Eastern coast with winds of more than 230 km/h (142mph) and carrying three feet of rain, reports The Weather Channel. Twenty-four hours prior to landfall, parts of Northern Taiwan have already accumulated around 300mm of rain, according to the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau.
Eighteen meters per second (39 mph) of sustained winds have been reported across almost all of Taiwan. Taipower, Taiwan's electric utility divulged that about 2.6 million households lost power as of 9:46 am Taiwan time with a measly 600,000 having their power restored.
Taiwan streets are bestrewn with fallen trees, broken signboards, and other debris. In addition, rail services and flights have been cancelled and all schools and offices suspended.
Four people have lost their lives as of 8am local time, as reported by the Taiwan Focus News Channel, with all of the deaths occurring in Yilan County, Taiwan. Among the casualties are a daughter and a mother playing by the beach that were swept out to sea last Thursday, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC). The girl's twin sister is also said to be missing.
Human casualties also include a firefighter, who was killed, and his companion injured after they were hit by a drunk driver while they were trying to remove a fallen tree blocking a highway in Pingtung, officials said according to Taiwan Focus News Channel.
"I've never seen such a powerful typhoon in my 60 years," one resident in the eastern Taitung county told Taiwan's Formosa TV.
CNN reports that Taiwan authorities have deployed more than 35,000 military personnel to help relocate residents of vulnerable areas as the storm makes its way into the Pacific Ocean.
"Taiwan is inherently prone to the destructive force of typhoons," says Weather Underground's Bob Henson as told by The Washington Post. "Despite this experience, the nation remains vulnerable to flooding and landslides/mudslides, given its dense infrastructure and population and the unavoidable nature of its highly mountainous terrain."
"The most disastrous storm in recent years to strike Taiwan was 2009's Typhoon Morakot, which caused more than 450 deaths and some $3.3 billion US in damage," he continues.
However, Morakot was a much weaker storm than Soudelor. "Morakot was only a Category 1 storm, with peak 1-minute sustained winds of 90 mph, but it moved in a leisurely cyclonic loop across northern Taiwan, prolonging the widespread intense rainfall." Henson adds.
Typhoon Soudelor is believed to rapidly weaken to the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane on Saturday as it passes over Taiwan and makes a second landfall in China near Quanzhou. Changle International Airport in Fuzhou, China, clocked tropical storm-force sustained winds of 45 mph with gusts to 65 mph as of 10 a.m. China Standard Time on Saturday, according to The Weather Channel.
